Aston Villa's ambitions are so often overlooked that the team are clandestine contenders. The manager Martin O'Neill would probably be the first person to ridicule the idea of his line-up as champions, but their prospects can only be marginally worse than those of Liverpool or Chelsea, who are just a point ahead in the notional pursuit of Manchester United.

The public has got out of the habit of giving Villa any thought whatsoever. When O'Neill was appointed in the summer of 2006, he took over a club that had just come 16th. The manager's rebuilding has been thorough and swift. Of the 18 players who started or were on the bench for the 1–0 win at Portsmouth on Tuesday, 13 had been bought since January 2007 and four more had emerged from the youth system.

The visitors were a little lucky, but there is nothing to quibble about in the broad sweep of results. Villa have collected 22 points from their past eight league matches, an identical haul to United's. O'Neill, of course, has enjoyed the resources made available by his club's owner, Randy Lerner.

While the manager did not break the £10m barrier when making Ashley Young Villa's record signing, he has put a handsome budget to extensive use. All of O'Neill's great experience has been evident in the piecing together of the squad. Martin Laursen's knee injury is disturbing and the Dane has decided to end his international career, but Villa have three other centre-halves in Curtis Davies, Carlos Cuéllar and Zat Knight.

Only at full-back, where Nicky Shorey is still to establish himself, do Villa have unresolved concerns. It is, above all, a line-up that makes sense and that is the source of its reliability. Managers of O'Neill's calibre can make management appear an easy career. Young, who knows how to deliver the ball, arrived in the same week as John Carew, a striker who thrives on crosses. The piecing together of a team, however, is not as elementary as all that.

The trick lies in buying exactly the right individuals. O'Neill has a higher success rate than most and his preference is for men versed in British football. The Spaniard Cuéllar, for instance, had been at Rangers, where he was integral to last season's run to the Uefa Cup final. Shopping in this country is expensive, but there have been few glitches in the shaping of a Villa line-up where English players make up the majority. While O'Neill will never suffer from jingoism he sees the worth in recruiting men for whom the transition should be seamless.

There has been a deftness to the management in various areas. Gareth Barry's desire to move to Liverpool last summer did look irresistible, yet O'Neill interpreted the situation wisely. Another footballer might have gone into decline if denied his wish, but Barry would not have wished to cast away the regular England place he had attained. The midfielder, too, was an adult prepared to tune in once more to Villa's cause. In Laursen's absence, the captaincy has been restored to him.

Some quibble over aesthetics, since there can be no disputing O'Neill's practical impact from Wycombe to Villa, via Leicester and Celtic. Tony Mowbray grumbled about the manner of West Brom's defeat earlier this month. Villa, he pronounced, "are not really interested in playing football". He also chided them for an inclination to hit on the break, even though many distinguished sides take pride in deft counter-attacking. Villa will be gratified that the majority of their points have come on the road.

The team is not elaborate, but O'Neill's emphasis on width has pleased fans at all his clubs. The wing play of Young and James Milner can be exciting and he has taken steps to ensure there will be a focal figure off whom Gabriel Agbonlahor can operate. With Carew still out, Emile Heskey can now be the target man. O'Neill's strategies seem to function, considering that Villa have scored only one goal fewer than United in the league this season.

We ought to be glad that someone is striving to smash the cartel at the top of the table. For his part, O'Neill will be overjoyed if the menace posed by Villa is overlooked for a while longer.